Hey! Alright, so here's a new story of mine. I've always kind of wanted to write the classic summer story, so here's my view on it. I really hope you enjoy it!
Behind The Red Door
A Lily/James Fanfiction
Chapter One: Monday
She stepped out of the shower, wrapping the plush white towel around her body. She took a hand, and whipped away some steam from the mirror, as to see her reflection staring back at her. Dripping wet red hair, bright green eyes ringed by red from the shampoo she'd once again gotten in her eyes, water droplets running down her ivory skin.
She took her toiletries bag from the counter and began riffling through it, looking for the hair brush she'd packed. Retrieving it, she began to brush through her long locks, her eyes not leaving her reflected ones. "Sweetie, are you almost ready? Your Cousins will be here soon!" An elderly female voice asked through the door, knocking twice in the process.
"Yes, Grams, just another few minutes," she yelled back through the door. She sighed, picking up the blow dryer, and turned it on, dreading the feel of the warm air in the heat of the summer. Minutes later, she was dried, dressed, and out the bathroom door. She headed into the kitchen where she took a seat next to her grandpa at the table. "Morning, Gramps," she said, taking a piece of toast from the plate on the table. She began to butter it, followed by a large amount of apricot jam; her favorite.
"Morning, princess," her grandfather greeted, looking up from his morning paper momentarily to give her a smile. "You excited for your cousins to visit?"
She sighed, and put on a fake excited smile, "Oh yes, I can't wait."
To be honest, she had been visiting with various relatives for the past two weeks and she was sick of it. She loved her family, and she loved staying with her grandparents (especially since her sister didn't come), but one more visit with whiney children and she was going to go mad.
Moments later, the doorbell rang. "Lily honey, can you get that?" Her grandmother asked, shuffling into the kitchen in a hurry and putting things away in an attempt to clean up for the guests.
"Sure Grams," Lily said, taking one last bite of her toast and hopping up. She sighed once more as she approached the front door, and putting that same fake enthusiastic face on, she opened the door, "Aunt Carol! Uncle Jimmy! Rachel, Cody, Jason, come in!"
A week passed by, and Lily had enough of babysitting her little cousins to last a lifetime. So when her grandmother came in to announce they would have another group of visitors the next day, Lily was less than thrilled.
"Who are they?" Lily asked calmly, hoping it wasn't anyone with little children.
"Do you remember your Aunt Karen?" Grams asked her. Lily could vaguely recall her Aunt, though it wasn't really her Aunt, just a family friend. As Lily recalled however, they did indeed have a little five year old son.
"The one with the son?" Lily asked hesitantly.
Her grandmother nodded, "Yes. Well, she was supposed to visit, however she got ill this past week and won't be able to make it." Lily felt horrible when she felt a little person in her head doing a happy dance with joy. "However," her grams started, making Lily's heard sink, "Her boy, Alex, would still really like to visit. So he'll be coming down with Karen's sister's family for the week."
Lily sighed, smiling at her grandmother. "Alright, Grams, when will they be here?"
"Tomorrow."
Lily was awoken to the sound of a car door slamming shut outside. Her eyes opened in an instant as she hopped straight out of bed and strode into the bathroom. She was in a rush, regretting not taking her grandparents up on the offer to wake her up that morning. She was running seriously late, and with the visitor's just outside, she barely had any time to get ready.
Typically, she preferred not using her magic to get ready in the morning but she was pressed for time. You see, Lily attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and this fall she'd be entering her seventh year there. So, after she threw on some clothes, she grabbed her wand from inside her bedside drawer, and with a small wave, found her looking somewhat presentable; make up done, hair ready. She stored the wand in her shorts pocket, tucking the rest under her shirt so it wasn't to be seen.
She exited the bathroom just as she heard the front door slam shut, and voices begin to fill the small beachside townhouse that her grandparents and her occupied. Lily put on her smile, and went up to join the group. She instantly recognized little Alex, with his short black hair and bright blue eyes, but the other visitors were a mystery to her. "Morning, Grams, Gramps," she greeted her grandparents before turning to the visitors.
"Ah, and you must be Lily," what must have been Alex's Aunt said, stepping forward and holding out her hand. Lily shook it and nodded, "I'm Laurie, and this is my husband Harold," she introduced. Lily noted that they were quite elderly for parents who must not be older then Aunt Karen herself, however they seemed to be in their 60's.
"Nice to meet you," Lily said politely to them both. She then kneeled down in front of Alex, "Hello there, buddy, nice to see you again," Lily greeted to the little boy, nudging him playfully.
He smiled and giggled a little, "Hi Lily," he said, leaning in and giving her a hug.
Did she mention how much she loved this adorable little boy?
"…oh where is that boy? He was supposed to be in here by now…"Lily all of a sudden heard Laurie muttering.
"Um, excuse me, but what boy?" Lily asked curiously.
Laurie rolled her eyes playfully, "Our son, he's out getting the bags. But knowing him he got distracted by one thing or another." Laurie sized up Lily for a moment before stating, "He must be right around your age."
"I can go help him," Lily said instantly curious of this son. Another person her age was always welcome around here. Laurie went to protest, but Lily intervened, "Really, it's no problem."
"Well, thank you Lily," Harold said, letting out a small sheepish smile she swore looked way to familiar, "I'd help him myself but you know, my back's not like it used to be."
Lily smiled understandingly, deciding she quite liked Laurie and Harold. They seemed nice and she probably wouldn't mind having them around the rest of the week. As the group exchanged more hugs and welcomes and caught up with each other, Lily opened up the bright red front door, and took a step outside into the fresh air.
She could smell the ocean from where they were, seeing as the Atlantic Ocean was just across the street. A large black minivan sat in their driveway behind her grandparents' car, and from the angle she was at she could see that the trunk was open facing the street. A boy her age stood behind, struggling with a few items—these people had clearly packed more than a weeks' worth of stuff. She could see nothing but his silhouette. He was tall, approximately 6 ft, built with a broad and muscular frame, but not too built that it was over the top.
As Lily rounded around the side of the van, she caught a sight of a mop of black hair, disheveled yet attractively so. I don't think I'll mind having this boy around for a week, she thought to herself, admiring the good looks she saw just through his silhouette. She reached him just as he was putting one of the bags down on the other side of the car from her. "Here, let me help you with those," she said, grabbing the next bag from the trunk.
She saw him freeze. He hesitantly straightened out, but his face was still not towards her. She then noticed he wore glasses; thin rimmed, roundish glasses. "Lily?" A familiar voice sounded from the boy.
That was when she froze. "Potter?"
His face turned fully so that they were staring straight at each other now, her green eyes boring into his hazel ones. His face was hard to read; whatever he was feeling, it was masked by the shock.
That's when Lily realized what she'd thought. Erg, scratch that suggestive thought about his fine physique…
She was stunned, feeling as though this was some sort of nightmare. Potter—James Potter—could not be staying with her for a week—with her grandparents. He'd wreck total havoc, as well as driving her completely mad.
James Potter was the bane of Lily's existence; they'd got to Hogwarts together since they were eleven, and never had they gotten along. Then came the dreaded date proposals from him in fifth year, and she despised him even more. Sure, she knew she was never that popular with guys, but to have the arse ask her out constantly as a joke was just too much.
And how was this arrogant jerk related to such nice people like Laurie and Harold? "Potter, what are you doing here?"
Potter was standing there, just staring, and in the process his jaw had even dropped open slightly. He blinked at Lily as though nothing was getting through. "Lily?" He asked again.
Lily rolled her eyes. "Yes, we've established that."
"You're here."
"Yes, Potter. I'm here."
"And I'm here."
"I really wish you weren't…" Lily muttered to herself.
It was that comment which helped him snap out of his daze and let out a more Potter like grin. "Well now that we covered that…" he stated, he threw his arms around her in a giant bear hug. "Great to see you Evans!"
Lily struggled to push him off of her, "Get off me," she said brushing herself off, as though Potter had left some sort of residue on her.
"Well, isn't this nice," Potter continued, picking up the bags he'd unloaded, "We're going to be spending the whole week together," he said, before walking towards the front door. "Would you get those bags for me Evans?" Before he walked into the house.
Lily groaned in aggravation before slamming the minivan trunk shut. Why did Potter's family even have a minivan? They're purebloods.
She grudgingly grabbed the rest of the bags and trudged into the house.
Upon entering, she found Potter in greetings with her grandparents, giving them hugs and making witty jokes. "Lily!" Laurie greeted happily when she walked in the front door. "Have you met our son, James?"
Lily met Potter's eyes for a moment before turning back to face Laurie. "Actually, we already know each other," Lily stated, a little more stonily then she meant to. Laurie looked curiously, and Lily elaborated. "We go to school together."
"Oh," Laurie stood confused momentarily, before Lily could see the wheels churning in her head. She looked from Lily, to James' unidentifiable expression, back to Lily, to the small bump made by Lily's wand in her shorts pocket. "Oh."
Laurie immediately turned to Harold with a pointed look, "Harold, its Lily who goes to school with James."
It took a moment for it to click in Harold's face. "Oh," he exclaimed, looking at James with a little wink. "Nice choice. Redhead, that's my boy."
Potters' face immediately reddened.
What in the world is going on? Lily thought to herself confused.
"Anyways, Lily honey, why don't you take the boys to their rooms, show them around the place," Grams asked as she made her way over to the kitchen. "Would anyone like some tea?"
"Oh yes, that would be nice," Laurie said.
"Yes thank you," Harold agreed.
"Lily?" Gramps asked. "Could you also bring the Potters' bags to their rooms as well?"
"Sure, Gramps," Lily said smiling, looking down at a little Alex. She held out a hand to him, "Come on Alex." She looked up at Potter stonily, "Potter," she said, implying for him to follow, and bring the bags with him.
She walked on down the long hallway with bedrooms left and right. She stopped momentarily outside of a small bedroom and pushed open the door. "Alex, here you go," she said, kneeling down, "Do you want to put your backpack inside and then go join your Auntie and Uncle?"
Alex nodded, and running into the room, he put his backpack on his bed, and ran back outside and back to the kitchen. She didn't look at Potter as she continued her way down the hallway. He followed silently, and as she opened the door next Alex's and right across from her's, without hesitation, she grabbed onto his shirt and pulled him into the room, slamming the door shut behind.
She whipped out her wand before he had time to comprehend what had happened, and she had it pointed at his chest. "Listen Potter, I've accepted that fact that you're going to have to stay here, but that doesn't mean that I like it. If you're going to be staying here, we've got to set some ground rules."
"First," Lily said, holding up a finger, her look very serious, "there will be no mention of magic—or performing it—at all, no exceptions. My grandparent's do not know about magic or Hogwarts and I don't want to have to explain all that shit to them. Got it?"
Potter nodded, "Agreed," he said instantly, giving a nod. Lily bit her lip, a little confused, as Potter added, "I wouldn't do anything reckless you know, especially if it would harm your family."
Lily rolled her eyes. "Right, because you've never done anything to harm me in the past, or annoy me, or purposely try to sabotage me, or—" she began sarcastically.
"None of those things ever harmed you. I don't hurt you," Potter said, his tone very serious, his eyes boring into hers. She immediately felt uncomfortable. There was something about this serious Potter that she didn't like.
"Right," She said, shaking of the uncomfortable air that suddenly surrounded them. "Right," she got the serious tone back in her voice. "Secondly," she said, holding up two fingers, "you are not to retain any of your schooling ways—no pranking, no vulgarity, no arrogant comments, no 'marauding'."
Potter grunted annoyingly, "I haven't been like that in a long time you know—haven't played any pranks since fifth year—and besides that I—"
"Potter," she cut off his rant. She raised an eyebrow at him questioningly.
He sighed, "Understood," he stated grudgingly. Lily was about to continue, holding up a third finger, but he wouldn't allow it, "Now for a condition of my own," he stated, his face startlingly serious. "There will be no hostility like at Hogwarts. As far as our families are concerned, we get along fine. From this point on, for the next week, we have a fresh start. Our past put behind us."
Lily was hesitant to answer. Would she be able to do such a thing, put all of their arguments and name calling and pranking behind her? She let out a sigh, but nodded anyways, "Alright."
He seemed almost surprised that she had agreed. She dropped the wand held at his chest down and put it into her pocket again. She was going to leave, but he wasn't done; he held out a hand, grabbing her arm, and pulling her back to where she was before. "One last thing," he said hesitantly. "I'm not longer fifteen; I don't act that way anymore. I know you don't see it, but it's the truth."
"Well I'm not fifteen years old either James Potter!" She said suddenly indignantly.
He didn't seem to put out by her proclamation, "I know you aren't."
And then he opened the door without another word and was gone.
"…so there we were, in quite a fancy restaurant in the South of France, and what would James do but strip down stark naked and start running through the restaurant!"
Lily was doubled over in laughter as the group sat around the living room, recalling funny stories and catching up. "Mom!" James complained in embarrassment, his face completely turning red.
"Oh honey, it's not that bad…you were nine, nine year olds do those sorts of things all the time," Laurie tried to reason with him; this just sent the rest of the group further into hysterics.
"No it's not, mom, and I would appreciate if you didn't tell the entire world about it," James said, if possible, turning even redder. However you could clearly see the amusement he felt as well, as he laughed, not exactly joyful, but ruefully good-humoured if nothing else.
"Oh James, it's just a story," Harold said, slapping his son playfully on the shoulder.
"Yea Potter, just a funny story," Lily exclaimed, a playful smirk on her face as she crossed her arms over her chest and looked at James. She had a look saying 'you wait till Hogwarts when I tell everybody these stories' but only jokingly.
"Well, Lily has had her fair share of embarrassing child moments too, don't you worry James," Grams said, and Lily shot her a panicked look.
A smirk played on James' lips now. "Oh really?"
"Oh yes," Gramps began, "like the zoo," he said laughing.
"Oh the zoo," Grams said with a laugh just as Lily said, "Oh the zoo," in an embarrassed displeased voice.
"Oh, the zoo," James said in an excited voice, rubbing his hands together in anticipation, the grin on his face, if possibly growing wider. "Tell us about the zoo."
Lily shook her head frantically as Grams began the tale, "Well, when Lily was—what was it Joe, five, six?" She asked her husband.
"Must have been about six," Gramps added.
"Right," Grams continued, "When Lily was about six, she was just wild about animals, pretty much any one, but she particularly enjoyed when we took her to the aquarium."
Lily groaned aloud as the story continued, and James couldn't help but let out a little chuckle at her embarrassment. "All day, it had been 'Grams when are we going to see the fishies?' 'Gramps I wanna go see the fish'," Gramps relayed to the group with a laugh. "Now by the time we reached the aquarium, she was so excited."
"That's when she went missing," Grams continued, looking Lily with a mock-stern look, making Lily—if possible—turn redder. "We couldn't find her anywhere. We searched but Lily seemed to disappear, and we were panicking. Then, who would come by, but a security guard with a very wet and happy Lily, happily proclaiming 'I went swimming with the fishies!'"
"Turns out," Gramps said, doubling over in laughter, "that she had ran outside when she'd seen a little fountain in front of the aquarium with some smaller fish in it, and had started swimming in it, trying to grab at the fish."
James was in peals of laughter, imaging in his head a little red headed Lily jumping into a fountain at the public zoo. It seemed like such a un-Lily move it made him laugh. "Yes, Lily was quite the rebellious child," Grams continued, smiling at the blushing Lily who was sinking further into the couch, "Always running away or getting into some sort of trouble."
"Now that I cannot picture," James said, wiping a small tear of laughter that escape from his eyes with his index finger, and smiling at Lily teasingly. "Prefect Lily rebelling against anything is just a weird thought."
She narrowed her eyes slightly at that, "I'm not the perfect prefect you think I am Potter," she told him indignantly, getting to her feet. She really had no idea why that affected her so; there was just something about Potter where he could turn anything into an insult.
He got up feebly as she began to storm down the hall towards her room, as her Grams muttered, "And there would be the typical Evans' temper."
"Lily!" He yelled after her, beginning to follow. He was getting damn sick of this girl and her mood swings. One minute she hated him, the next they were cracking jokes on the couch, then she was storming away from him.
He reached her bedroom door just as she slammed it shut. He didn't hesitate to try to open it, but of course she had locked it. He knocked several times, "Lily! Open up!" however there was no response. He then resorted to plan B. He whipped out his wand subtly and whispered, "Alohomora" so that no one else would hear, and he heard the lock click open.
He pushed open the door, and closed it behind him without a word. Lily stood facing the window, her back to him, her arms crossed over her chest. For a moment neither of them spoke, but the tension was almost unbearable. They felt as though the air was so thick they were going to suffocate. Finally Lily spoke up, "It's been less than two hours and already you're driving me mad," she said, her back still facing him.
He cautiously stepped forward, but stopped when he saw her tense from his movements. He chuckled nervously, his hand slipping up to ruffle his hair. "Stop that," Lily stated exasperatedly with a sigh. He looked puzzled, "The hair thing, I can tell your doing it, I've known you for seven years James Potter. I hate when you do that," she said, finally turning to face him.
To her surprise, he slipped his hand straight out of his hair, "oh sorry," he said, looking at his hand, before looking up to meet her gaze. He sighed, unsure what to really say. Then he remembered why she'd gotten angry in the first place, "Why did you get angry before?" He asked a little tersely, however truly curious.
She sighed, looked defeated, and sat down on her bed behind her. She shook her head, "I don't know," she looked down, not feeling capable of looking at him. Never in her life had she felt so uncomfortable and vulnerable in front of Potter. It was as though she was suddenly afraid of being in his presence, just from this small conversation. It made her anxious. "I guess I'm just tired of people putting me up on this pedestal—perfect Lily Evans—she can do no wrong, break no rule, fail no class," she paused for a moment finally meeting his eyes, "and it's just so exhausting."
His expression softened, however he said nothing, knowing she wasn't finished. "Trying to be this person that everyone thinks I am makes me afraid of not being that way. I do make mistakes and I do break some rules," she said, before grinning a little, "sometimes ones you would never expect of me."
"When I leave Hogwarts, I get to relax and be myself, without such expectations," she continued, getting off the bed, and walking over to the window, so her back was to him once more. She gazed out, and crossed her arms in front of her chest again. "So when you said that about me just now," she began with a shrug, "I just sort of snapped. Sick of it, especially from you."
He wasn't shocked by this proclamation whatsoever. This time, when he hesitantly stepped forward, she made no motion of protest, until he reached the window and stood with her side by side, gazing out at the ocean. He knew it was his turn to say his bit. "You know I've always put you on that pedestal. I've always seen you as this perfect girl; the epitome of perfection."
She scoffed a little, but she felt a strange stinging in her eyes, and she willed the tears not to come. She hated that this sort of conversation would reduce her to this, but James Potter always did have a strange affect on her. "Is that supposed to help?" she wavered out.
He turned to face her, and took her hands in his, and for some unknown reason, she didn't shake him off, but turned to face him. "Just hear me out alright?" He asked his face completely serious. "I've thought of you like that for seven years now, but you know what? In these past few hours, I feel like I know you more than I ever have, and that illusion of you has been completely shattered," he stated.
He let out a little chuckle, "those people who put you on that pedestal, they don't know you, and if they did get to know you, you know what they'd see?"
She shook her head and looked down at their entwined hand, truly not understanding what was happening to her; what force was compelling her to act like this. He continued, "That you, Lily Evans, are absolutely mad."
Her head snapped up immediately at that, and a mixture of emotions crossed over her face, finally settling on confusion. He laughed as he continued, "You wanted to swim with fish at the zoo, are completely bipolar, just when I think I've got you figured out, you do a complete 180, and that you're afraid of being someone so much that you think you have to become that person. You're mad."
She let out a laugh at just how ridiculous that sounded, and realized at that point just how mad she truly was. Within seconds, she found herself in stitches with laughter, and James joining in right after her.
After she'd settled down, she detangled her hands from James' and whipped away a tear of mirth. James too, calmed himself, before he spoke once more. "You are definitely not perfect prefect Lily Evans, and you know what?" He asked, and she looked up at him curiously, her green eyes boring into his hazel, "I couldn't be more happy about it."
She immediately went somber, all amusement leaving her expression. She found herself unable to look away from him, finding herself enthralled with his gaze. She knew she should feel uncomfortable in that moment, but she didn't, couldn't. She felt so comfortable, just staring at him, that it made her nervous, but that nervousness didn't seem to matter. "Thank you," she said after a long moment.
His eyebrows furrowed. "For what?"
She shrugged. "Just…thanks."
He smiled tenderly. "Anytime," he said, reaching up to brush a stray strand of hair away from her face, and tucking it behind her ear.
That incredible act of gentleness snapped her out of her sort of trance. Her mouth formed a grin. "So, Potter, want to go see a movie?"
"What's a movie?"
"So you're saying," Potter began as the two of them walked into the air conditioned movie theatre from the hot summer streets, "That there are these people, moving on this sort of square on the wall that is done through some muggle contraption and there is no magic involved at all?"
Lily giggled at the purebloodedness of Potter. She couldn't imagine not knowing what a movie was. She sometimes took for granted that she grew up as a muggle and that no one else knew much about muggle things. But hey, she didn't know much about certain magical things, so the purebloods probably felt the same as her.
As they stepped up to the counter to order their food, Potter looked around very confused at the options. His expression dropped, "I don't understand."
Lily rolled her eyes, "What don't you understand, Potter?"
He pointed at the food exasperatedly, waving his arms around, "What is this?"
"That would be food, Potter."
"But—"
"We'll have two popcorns, and two cokes," Lily said turning to the guy at the counter, completely ignoring Potters' confusion.
The guy at the counter looked at Potter in bewilderment before running off to get the food. He came back moments later, and Potter was still staring at the food trying to figure out what it was, asking constantly, 'and what is this?' and 'what is this?'
"Um, is your boyfriend okay?" the guy asked.
"My what?" Lily sputtered. She immediately began her denial, "He's not… I mean we're not…and we would never… and—"
"Oh honey," Potter said, apparently broken out of whatever trance with the food he had been in to sling his arm over her shoulder, "you're so funny. Come on now dear, we want to get seats at the back so we can have a good snog," he said rather dramatically, sounding like a large dolt, gathering up the food in his free arm, and pulling a very stunned Lily.
Once they were in the theatre, Lily attacked, "what was that? We are not together Potter! And how did you even know about the sitting at the back to snog thing when you've never been to the movies!"
He stopped and gave her a pointed look. "Lily, I'm a pureblood wizard, not an idiot."
Lily scoffed and continued to head towards a seat—near the front she might add—and muttered to herself, "I could beg to differ."
"What was that Lily?"
"Oh nothing."
If you had told Lily last week—or even yesterday—that she was going to be sitting at a movie with James Potter, she would have laughed straight in your face. The concept of it was truly hilarious when she thought of it. Moral enemies, despising each other for seven years, get together and go see a movie? I don't think so.
The lights dimmed for the movie to begin, and Potter and Lily settled into their seats. It was when the screen turned on however and began to play that James began to cower and let out a little yelp. Lily furrowed her eyebrows as she glanced at his fearful face in the dark room. The lights from the movie in the dark cast shadows across his face which Lily noted made him look like a scared little boy. "Potter?" She asked gently, feeling bad for him after seeing his childlike expression. "Are you alright?
His eyes widened as he gazed up at the screen. "Their faces…" he started, looking over at Lily in terror. "They're so big!"
Lily held in a laugh, "Well yes Potter, that's the point of the theatre."
He shook his head, a mixture between disagreement and denial. "Where do they keep them?"
Lily's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Them?" She asked.
He looked around shiftily and leaned in closer, and Lily mentally hit herself when the smell of him being so close made her a little dizzy. She'd never noticed he smelt like that before, and she had to shake the sudden strange feeling away. "The people. Where do they keep them?" He asked in wondrous terror.
"Keep the people?"
"Yeah, where is there space for them?"
"Potter, you do realize that the people acting in these movies aren't really that big?"
There was a pause, where Potter's face went from terror, to confusion, to a sheepish grin, as Lily burst into a fit of laughter. The other people watching the movie actually had to shush her to make her be quiet, and she was laughing with such mirth that she didn't notice the sheepish grin on James' face turn into something different.
Finally, after a few moments, it died down, and she had to wipe a stray tear from her eye. That's when she caught his look. It was one of appreciation, and awe, and something else she couldn't quite place. It made her uncomfortable immediately. "What?" She asked.
He shrugged, but his intense gaze remained on her. "Your laugh. It's nice. I never really get to hear it; you don't usually laugh or even smile in my presence."
For some uncontrollable reason, Lily felt her face begin to warm. "Oh," she said, honestly not knowing what else to say. She looked away, unable to meet his expression, and cleared her throat, "Right."
And that was that. They watched the rest of the movie in silence.
"…and there were these people, and their faces were huge, and they had these absolutely bizarre lives. I mean, if I had a bunch of people watching my every move, I'd probably live a weird life too, but not that weird," James recalled during dinner.
The adults at the table had to laugh. Of course Lily's grandparents thought it was absolutely unheard of that a teenage boy had never seen a movie before, and James' parents were secretly just as baffled as James was.
"So you kids had fun though?" Laurie asked.
James nodded enthusiastically. "Oh yes, right Lily?"
Lily, who had been absentmindedly swirling her mashed potatoes with her fork deep in thought, looked up with surprise at that sound of her name. "Oh sorry? What?"
James' eyebrows furrowed as he looked at her with that same look he had earlier, and Merlin did she wish he would stop. There was just something about that look that made her entirely too uncomfortable. "You okay Lily?" he asked.
She forced out a smile. "Oh yeah, fine, probably just tired," she lied.
James nodded, not entirely convinced. "Oh sweetie, maybe you should go to sleep? It has been quite a busy summer for you so far, and a long day, you must be exhausted," Grams told her.
Lily nodded, throwing her napkin down on the table. "I think I will go retire early. If you'll excuse me…" she said, and pushed herself away from the table. As she headed down the hallway, she heard the voice she really didn't want to hear right now mutter, "Excuse me," as well, and she tried to speed up her pace to get to her room faster.
Just as she was about to enter her room, she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Lily, are you really okay?" James asked.
"I'm fine," she snapped, and he looked taken aback at her hostility all of a sudden. She immediately felt bad, "I'm sorry; I'm doing it again aren't I?"
"Doing what?"
"You know, acting crazy and bipolar?"
James let out a laugh at that, not joyful, but ruefully good humored. "Don't worry about it." He said, and then she swore she heard him mutter something along the lines of, "I've probably put you through enough for one day, haven't I?"
"What was that?" She asked.
He waved it off. "Oh nothing. It's just with us being civil all of a sudden…it must be hard to transition and…you know…" he started saying, unsure of what he really was saying.
"Right," she said, not knowing what else to say. She could tell he was just itching to run his hand through his hair, but knew she hated it, having just mentioned it to him earlier. "Anyways I really am tired so I'm going to head to bed. Night, Potter"
"Night," he echoed her previous sentiment, nodding. She turned to head into the room, but he stopped her once more. "Lily?" he said. She looked up at him with tired eyes, "its James."
"What is?"
"My name," he said. "It's James, not Potter. Well it is Potter, but not in the sense that you use it."
She smiled ruefully at that. "Yes, I'm aware of that."
Her smile grew as his uncomfortable feeling with the situation grew as well. "So I though, you know, now that we're civil, you could maybe call me James."
She didn't say anything for a long while, and it started to make him incredibly nervous. Maybe he'd jumped the gun on the name front.
Finally, she turned and headed into her room, but right before she closed the door, she whispered two words that lifted James's spirits and gave him a little sliver of hope. "Night, James."
Alright, so there's chapter one. The chapters are basically gonna each be a day. I've got a general plot sort of worked out, but not completely, so I'm very open to suggestions. Please, i love hearing comments, questions, concerns, etc. Thanks and I hope you liked it!